Transcription:
December 14th, 1897 R. W. GILDER, EDITOR. R. U. JOHNSON, ASSOCIATE EDITOX. C. C. BUEL, ASSISTANT EDITOX. Mr. John
Muir, Martinez, Cal. My dear Muir, Your cheerful shout of the 6th of December gave me much pleasure, and so did the first
paragraph of your postscript, in which you say that you may possibly take a trip through the interior of Alaska next summer,
and if you do will be glad to write a sketch for The Century. By the interior of Alaska we presume you mean the Klondike,
and if so it is a bargain; but we want to make more of it than a single article. If it is worth doing at all it is worth doing
in an Important way, so that It would attract public attention. We are about to print articles on two routes to the Klondike
-- one a description of the Yukon River route from St. Michaels, the other a very brief sketch of the rush over the mining
passed from Skaguay; but these would in no way militate against your description of the mining region and the people. You
are the only first-class writer, up to date, who thinks of going there. Can you not plan out, even tentatively, the trip,
telling us when you could probably go, how long you would have to stay, when you could return, and how much It would cost
us. 02373